To Be Obscure

| CH. 02

"Does he need all that light?" 

I stopped a half-mile away from the café. I lived down the road, roughly a fifteen-minute walk from Eternal Blue. Just ahead, I saw the complex I lived in, and could see into the window of the apartment I shared with Nathan. Every light inside was turned on. His shadow sat in the front room, typing away on his computer.

I sighed as I ran my fingers through my dark hair and pulled strands back away from my face. As much as it annoyed me to waste electricity, I couldn't be angry with him.

There was a reason he'd stay awake.

With a deep breath, I finished my walk and ran up the steps to my front door. The doorknob twisted easily with a turn of my hand. He hadn't locked it. As I shut it behind me, he didn't turn to look at me. His glasses sat on top of his brown curls, his nose pressed close to the computer screen.

"You'll be blind before you finish your research, you know that?" I laughed as I took off my jacket, tossing it on the armrest of our couch.

The living room was small, with a single white couch, a coffee table, and a TV mounted on the wall. Nathan's precious computer sat on a small desk near the front door; it was his space and I wasn't allowed near it unless given permission. Adjacent to the living room, separated by a small island, was our kitchen and the doors to our two bedrooms. Mine was open and I glanced over at it, eyeing the darkness inside my room. "Is Luther—"

"Luther's on your bed," Nathan muttered as he slid his finger down his computer mouse, scrolling through the webpage he read. "He's been in there for an hour."

"Hm." I walked over to my bedroom, peeking inside. Indeed, my white cat laid on my bed, nestled between two pillows. I almost smiled but turned my gaze back at Nathan, who hadn't looked at me at all. His eyes were transfixed on his computer screen, as they had been for days. Next to him were two red vials—vials filled with samples of my blood.

"Anything new?" I shrugged away the tightness in my neck.

"No." Nathan pushed his glasses down in front of his eyes. "I keep running into the same brick wall."

I sighed and started coffee. It wasn't for me, but for him. When he finally looked at me, I saw the dark circles under his eyes. His shirt, once tight, hung loosely around his shoulders and stomach. He scrunched his nose as the smell of dark roast filled the room. "Didn't bring me any from the spot?" he grumbled.

"Unfortunately, no," I said as I placed two mugs down on the kitchen's island. "I didn't go to drink coffee."

"Right." Nathan glanced over at his computer.

The webpage reflected on his lenses, and I could make out the blurred images of organs within the human body. Since meeting him and revealing my true nature, he dropped out of school and spent his days researching whatever it was that made me me. Hence, my vials of blood. Nathan had friends in high places—such as hospitals and various labs—and every few months, he'd send them a sample or two of my blood. As much as they inquired about its source, it was strictly confidential—for both sides, of course.

Diseases like mine were the reason he went to med school in the first place; I was the reason he dropped out. Studying me became his life work. I couldn't help but welcome him into my life. It was partly due to me being lonely and never having anyone to talk to. The rest of me craved a family, and he became a younger brother I never had.

A brother that prodded me with needles, observed my every move, but a brother, nonetheless. His humor made it all easier.

"It's been how long? Fifteen years, right?" Nathan asked as he stood from his seat and stretched his arms.